diff --git a/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-7.12.ebuild b/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-7.12.ebuild
index 7d9e072a39e48..c99e14e02ef7e 100644
--- a/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-7.12.ebuild
+++ b/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-7.12.ebuild
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ if [[ ${PV} != 9999* ]] ; then
 	# alpha #562128
 	KEYWORDS="-alpha ~amd64 ~arm ~arm64 ~hppa ~ia64 ~m68k ~mips ~ppc ~ppc64 ~s390 ~sparc ~x86 ~ppc-aix ~amd64-fbsd ~x86-fbsd ~x64-freebsd ~amd64-linux ~arm-linux ~x86-linux ~x64-macos ~x86-macos ~sparc-solaris ~sparc64-solaris ~x64-solaris ~x86-solaris"
 fi
-IUSE="+client expat lzma multitarget nls +python +server test vanilla"
+IUSE="+client lzma multitarget nls +python +server test vanilla xml"
 REQUIRED_USE="
 	python? ( ${PYTHON_REQUIRED_USE} )
 	|| ( client server )
@@ -69,9 +69,9 @@ RDEPEND="server? ( !dev-util/gdbserver )
 	client? (
 		>=sys-libs/ncurses-5.2-r2:0=
 		sys-libs/readline:0=
-		expat? ( dev-libs/expat )
 		lzma? ( app-arch/xz-utils )
 		python? ( ${PYTHON_DEPS} )
+		xml? ( dev-libs/expat )
 		sys-libs/zlib
 	)"
 DEPEND="${RDEPEND}
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ src_configure() {
 			--without-zlib
 			--with-system-zlib
 			--with-separate-debug-dir="${EPREFIX}"/usr/lib/debug
-			$(use_with expat)
+			$(use_with xml expat)
 			$(use_with lzma)
 			$(use_enable nls)
 			$(use multitarget && echo --enable-targets=all)
diff --git a/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-9999.ebuild b/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-9999.ebuild
index 7be5d2ddd670d..d4254ad9f4b22 100644
--- a/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-9999.ebuild
+++ b/sys-devel/gdb/gdb-9999.ebuild
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ SLOT="0"
 if [[ ${PV} != 9999* ]] ; then
 	KEYWORDS="~alpha ~amd64 ~arm ~arm64 ~hppa ~ia64 ~m68k ~mips ~ppc ~ppc64 ~s390 ~sparc ~x86 ~ppc-aix ~amd64-fbsd ~x86-fbsd ~x64-freebsd ~amd64-linux ~arm-linux ~x86-linux ~x64-macos ~x86-macos ~sparc-solaris ~sparc64-solaris ~x64-solaris ~x86-solaris"
 fi
-IUSE="+client expat lzma multitarget nls +python +server test vanilla"
+IUSE="+client lzma multitarget nls +python +server test vanilla xml"
 REQUIRED_USE="
 	python? ( ${PYTHON_REQUIRED_USE} )
 	|| ( client server )
@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@ RDEPEND="server? ( !dev-util/gdbserver )
 	client? (
 		>=sys-libs/ncurses-5.2-r2:0=
 		sys-libs/readline:0=
-		expat? ( dev-libs/expat )
 		lzma? ( app-arch/xz-utils )
 		python? ( ${PYTHON_DEPS} )
+		xml? ( dev-libs/expat )
 		sys-libs/zlib
 	)"
 DEPEND="${RDEPEND}
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ src_configure() {
 			--without-zlib
 			--with-system-zlib
 			--with-separate-debug-dir="${EPREFIX}"/usr/lib/debug
-			$(use_with expat)
+			$(use_with xml expat)
 			$(use_with lzma)
 			$(use_enable nls)
 			$(use multitarget && echo --enable-targets=all)
diff --git a/sys-devel/gdb/metadata.xml b/sys-devel/gdb/metadata.xml
index e2ea10158b9d3..d11b1ea4a91ec 100644
--- a/sys-devel/gdb/metadata.xml
+++ b/sys-devel/gdb/metadata.xml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
  <flag name="multitarget">Support all known targets in one gdb binary</flag>
  <flag name="python">Enable support for the new internal scripting language, as well as extended pretty printers</flag>
  <flag name="server">Install the "gdbserver" program (useful for embedded/remote targets)</flag>
+ <flag name="xml">Support parsing XML data files needed (at least) for cpu features, memory maps, and syscall tracing</flag>
 </use>
 <upstream>
  <remote-id type="cpe">cpe:/a:gnu:gdb</remote-id>